

What and Why, Examples of They/Them Pronouns Used in the Singular Just as it can be offensive or even harassing to make up a nickname for someone and call them that nickname against their will, it can be offensive or harassing to guess at someone’s pronouns and refer to them using those pronouns if that is not how that person wants to be known.” “Using someone’s correct personal pronouns is a way to respect them and create an inclusive environment, just as using a person’s name can be a way to respect them. They/Them Pronouns Are Already Ungendered Wordsīecause these folks don’t identify with the two genders in the binary, and we haven’t created a new language for other genders, many nonbinary individuals will take on they/them pronouns because they’re already ungendered words. Other folks don’t identify in the gender binary at all and feel they are completely genderless, taking on a genderless pronoun. Some may feel very comfortable in the middle as androgynous and gender-fluid individuals who don’t feel specifically tied to one gender. But for others, they may not identify as either male or female.

For some people, that may mean transitioning to the opposite gender as that’s what they feel comfortable with. This is a very traditional way of looking at gender, where you’re either one gender or the other and are expected to follow the societal standards and expectations of that gender.īut some people don’t feel like they identify with the rules of the gender binary, or the gender assigned to them at birth. In our society, we have a gender binary: a system of gender classification in which all people are categorized as being either male or female.

To answer this question, we’re going to need to do a crash course in gender theory. Why Would Someone Use They/Them Pronouns? We’re all familiar with she/her and he/him pronouns, but there’s a third set of pronouns that we need to become more familiar with, and that’s singular they/them pronouns. As marketers, it is our responsibility to address people respectfully and nothing is more important than simply using the correct pronouns.
